This is already a proxy war, the only things stopping direct conflict is nuclear power, China and public scrutiny. They are trying to overcome public opinion with a prolonged propaganda campaign and not allowing Russian media to be shown on TV but they will not overcome the other two so direct conflict is highly improbable.

I assume the end goal is to weaken Russia's global influence, it seemed a little bit too coincidental that Putin's arrest warrant was issued less than a week after he downed a 32 million dollar US drone.
 

Apollo

The Sol King
Not a direct war, thats too outdated. And not against Russia specifically.
America is trying to maintaina its global influence by ensuring it has allies throughout the world. This latest war has managed to get 2 more countries into Nato(Finland and Sweden) with popular support. At the same time, arming Ukraine in order to drain Russia from its resources+ sanctions to weaken its economy.

This way, America's allies will hold the upper hand against China's allies. Even if China's economy surpasses America's, its diplomatic/military influence will still be lacking for the foreseeable future.
 
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